Lunch Invite

I race to the cafeteria. My stomach has been growling for hours. I look around for my friends.

"Eliza! Over here!", a voice says.

I turn around and see...XuFeng?

I walk towards him. "Hey...what's up?"

He looks down. "This is my first day and I don't have many friends yet. I was wondering... can I sit with you?", he says shyly.

I tilt my head. "Of course! My friends would love that! I don't know where they are yet...haha.", I say looking around.

We get our lunch first before looking for them.

"Eliza! Where were——", Kate stops.

I laugh. Her face turns red at the sight of XuFeng. We sit down and introduce ourselves.

"So...XuFeng...we have this study group and I was wondering if you would like to study with us.", Eve says, fidgeting.

"Of course. Thanks.",he says happily.

I frown. Study group? Before I ask, I feel someone tap on my knee. I see Eve looking at me, pleading to not expose this lie. I laugh again.

"XuFeng, can we get your number? We have a group chat for it.", I say, adding on. In the corner of my eye I see Kate rushing to make a group chat called "Study Group".

I stall until she's done. Then she quickly adds him.

"There. All done.", Kate says.

We get to know him for the rest of the lunch period. Afterwards, we go back to our classes.

"Your friends seem nice.", XuFeng says.

"You should continue eating with us. They really enjoy your company.", I say, looking up at him.

"Sure.",he says.

When we finally arrive, MeiLina is sitting on XuFeng's desk. XuFeng clears his throat.

"Oh sorry!", she says sweetly.

XuFengs nods and walks away. , leaving us both confused. I hold back my laughter when he comes back with hand sanitizer and Clorox Wipes. MeiLina furiously walks back to her desk, giving me a glare. I smile sweetly at her before sitting down...on water. My face turns red from embarrassment. I stand up and see water all over my seat. MeiLina laughs and flips her hair. Before I say anything, XuFengs wipes my chair down and puts his jacket around my waist. MeiLina immediately stops laughing and rolls her eyes.

"Thanks XuFeng.", I say, my face still red from the humiliation. It's so obvious that MeiLina spilled water on my seat during lunch hour. I know she wants a reaction out of me, but I won't give her the pleasure of that. Instead, I calmly sit down and read my textbook. If this keeps going on, I don't know how much longer I can keep my emotions buried.